The irony with this post is that it's April Fool's Day, but this is NOT a joke. Yesterday, we stumbled across a site called Spokeo. And although directories with people's contact information are nothing new, this particular directory is just a bit on the disturbing side.
Why? Well when we tested it out by placing our names in the search box, what we found was just kind of scary. Our addresses were there, there were photos, our home values and even credit scores all there for ANYBODY to see.
Don't believe us? Try it for yourself, you might be a bit surprised at what you find. Although there were some errors in the information, other parts were uncomfortably accurate. Spokeo is an aggregation of all things you. Drawn from your personal profiles via the web.
Now you might say, "that information is already out there and available" and we'd have to agree with you. But at least in certain places, you can control who has access and all of those pieces are spread out in various places throughout the net...not in one place.
The good news is that you can very easily remove yourself from the directory by going here. The process is relatively painless, but you'll need to have the url (link) of your Spokeo listing readily available to complete the process. You also have to enter your email which probably adds you to yet another public list somewhere, but at least you'll be out of the main listing by name section of the site.
How do you feel about sites like this? Is it infringing on your privacy? Take the time to share this with anyone you know that may care about how easily their information can be found in one, very convenient place.